The Way They Work
by Artemis08Luna
Summary: Ralph Dibny doesn't really get the three heroes standing in front of him. They're having another one of their infamous screaming matches after failing to stop a heist. He can't take it anymore, he just has to ask, "If they hate each other so much, why are they still together?" (KARIVARRY)


Ralph is just minding his own business in the Cortex, not touching any of the computers after causing one too many false alarms just trying to watch Netflix. Caitlin's in the medical bay doing who knows what, while Cisco's playing what looks to be a retro game on his tablet.

He nearly falls out of his chair when Barry suddenly flashes in the room (something he has yet to get used to, now that he's a part of Team Flash), taking off his cowl roughly just as Oliver and Kara stalk into the room, the former looking really tense and the latter is hunched over.

Caitlin is about to rush over to check for any injuries when she stops herself, noticing the friction amongst the trio.

"This is 2014 all over again, Barry!" Oliver is yelling as he stashes his bow on one of the desks. "It's almost like you're back to when you're starting out; you _didn't_ case your surroundings and because of that, Kara got hurt."

Cisco pauses his game and gives a quick glance to both Caitlin then to Ralph, making a cutting motion across his throat. Right, shut up. He's capable of doing that, right?

"Hey!" Kara interrupts. Ralph doesn't miss the hole in her suit in the shoulder area, slightly bloodied but looks to be healed. "First of all, I am perfectly capable of protecting myself! Second, how the _hell_ were we supposed to know they had bullets made of kryptonite? And third, don't be so hard on Barry, okay? If I recall, he saved your life!"

"No!" Barry says to Kara, aggravated. "He's right! I should've been smarter. I keep telling _you_ to case every inch of every new environment you find yourself in—"

"There wasn't any time!" Kara defends. "We wouldn't even be having this conversation if _you,_ " she jabs a finger at Oliver's chest, "aren't so reckless!"

" _Reckless?_ " Oliver repeats in exasperation. Ralph wishes he has popcorn; this is getting to be better than most of the reality shows on TV. He follows Cisco, who now stands by Caitlin watching the scene unfold in silence from the medical bay.

"You jumped in front of me, as if you forgot _I'm bulletproof!_ "

"Which you're not anymore since they were able to fabricate _kryptonite bullets!_ "

"Why the hell are you yelling at her about it?!" Barry demands. "She didn't make them!"

"No, which only brings me to my original point!" Oliver challenges back. "You have _super speed,_ Barry! How could not have seen the _green_ bullets?"

"Maybe he was too busy saving your life to find out what _color_ the bullets are since you decided to become a martyr and jump in front of me!" Kara yells.

"You know," Ralph whispers to his fellow quiet observers as the yelling gets more heated. "I really don't get it."

"Get what?" Caitlin asks back in a hushed tone.

"Them. Being together and all."

"I'm sorry, but do we need to go over tolerance and acceptance with you again?" Cisco asks with a hint of irritation.

Ralph raises his hands. He does _not_ need that again. "That's not what I meant. What I mean is why do they even stay together if they constantly have screaming matches?"

"What?" The two say at the same time.

He shrugs. "I just figured, if they hate each other so much, why are they still together?"

Caitlin brings a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle while Cisco doubles over in a noiseless burst of mirth.

"Hate... each... other?" He says in between chuckles. He straightens himself, still snickering a bit. From behind them, he swipes a scalpel from a cupboard and tells Ralph, "Watch this."

He aims the blade at the back of Barry's head and tosses it with an expertise akin to that of someone playing darts.

The reaction from the trio is instant: Kara quickly spots the flying piece of sharp silver and flies to shield Barry from it, watching the scalpel bounce off her collarbone. At the same time, Oliver grabs Barry's shoulders and pins him to the nearest wall in an effort to avoid the offensive weapon, not taking into account Kara's quick defense in a moment of instinct.

Oliver takes the scalpel and throws it back with the intention of hitting Cisco, only Cisco's already breaching away, cackling as he does.

"I swear to God, I'm going to kill him one day!" Oliver says. "I don't care if he's one of Felicity's favorites."

Barry's laughing despite having one of his best friends throw a blade at him. "It's fine. It's _Cisco_. He's having fun."

"He threw a scalpel at you with your back turned. _Again,_ " Kara says. "That's having fun?"

"He likes to prove a point."

"And what is that?" Oliver asks.

Barry doesn't answer and instead pecks the other man on the lips before zooming away with him, leaving Kara there left alone in the Cortex. The blonde glances at Ralph, who still slightly has his jaw open.

"We fight a lot, yeah. But at the end of the day, we love one another and have each other's backs. That's just how we work," she says with a smile before flying away, presumably to follow wherever it is Barry went.

Caitlin shakes her head fondly as she steps into the Cortex to use one of the computers to call Cisco back from his hiding spot.

"Blondie has _super hearing_ , are you kidding me?!" Ralph exclaims.

* * *

 _Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a review. Helps me out a lot to read your insight and I truly appreciate every single one of them._


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